[Ad_J]

It's good to see you are enjoying your vehicle.

I am also in the market for an AT car and might as well look into Altroz DCA.

I have two major concerns though:

1. How does it perform on slopes? Does it roll back when starting from a standstill on the slope as it doesn't have hill start assist.

2. How is the reliability of DCA gearbox?

[Burgman_tales]

Originally Posted by Ad_J

It's good to see you are enjoying your vehicle.

I am also in the market for an AT car and might as well look into Altroz DCA.

I have two major concerns though:

1. How does it perform on slopes? Does it roll back when starting from a standstill on the slope as it doesn't have hill start assist.

2. How is the reliability of DCA gearbox?

Yes it will definitely roll back on steep slopes if starting from standstill. You would have to engage handbrake, engage drive mode, press accelerator, and release handbrake when enough pull power is achieved.

If your use case involves frequent driving on bumper to bumper traffic on hilly roads or flyover etc, I would suggest to go for a car with hill assist. I face this problem on flyovers and underpasses which are plenty in Bangalore.

I have completed 1 year and 5000km, no major issues with the gearbox.

[W.A.G.7]

Originally Posted by Ad_J

1. How does it perform on slopes? Does it roll back when starting from a standstill on the slope as it doesn't have hill start assist.

Originally Posted by Burgman_tales

Yes it will definitely roll back on steep slopes if starting from standstill.

Well, yes and no. If your car is in Neutral and you are on a slope, the hill hold feature doesn't work. If it is in Drive (D) and you have stopped on a slope, then in our car, the hill hold feature works correctly.

Originally Posted by Ad_J

How is the reliability of DCA gearbox?

I would say very reliable. In the last two years, this is the gearbox that converted us from manual geared drivers to hard-brain-wired automatic petrol heads. We haven't had any sort of gearbox related issue so far. Touch Wood! Of course, there are some basic etiquette's (example: putting the gear in Neutral when you have stopped for more than 30 seconds) that will prolong the life of the gearbox, but then these are with every dual clutch gear boxes and not specific to this car alone.

[Burgman_tales]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Well, yes and no. If your car is in Neutral and you are on a slope, the hill hold feature doesn't work. If it is in Drive (D) and you have stopped on a slope, then in our car, the hill hold feature works correctly.

There is no hill hold feature on Altroz. It's just the creep feature. Hill hold basically presses the brake for you. Altroz rolls back in D without accelerator input on steep slope.

[W.A.G.7]

Originally Posted by Burgman_tales

Altroz rolls back in D without accelerator input on steep slope.

Is it? Wow! some new learning again today! I had thought we got the hill hold feature but this is new(s)! Let me check this on a steep slope, most likely we will learn something new again!

[Burgman_tales]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Is it? Wow! some new learning again today! I had thought we got the hill hold feature but this is new(s)! Let me check this on a steep slope, most likely we will learn something new again!

Yeah I drive in Bangalore bumper to bumper traffic on flyovers, I always have to apply handbrake, press accelerator, then release handbrake

[W.A.G.7]

Ok. This ownership thread is not dead. Sure, I haven't updated it in a while but I am happy to report that the car is doing absolutely great. It has been trustworthy, reliable, compact and an excellent runabout vehicle in the city. Moreover it puts a smile on the face whenever we drive it, so everything else be damned!

I was going to put an update towards the end of January. Today morning during an ongoing meeting the L-O-H came and said - "There are no updates!" And I was like - "What updates?" And she was like - "Go Figure it out!" I realized later that she meant about the thread and putting updates on it. But trust ladies to put you in a bad situation in an instant when you have no inkling of what has happened! It turns out, that we had our 5th "Check-up" service at 2.5 years mark yesterday and I forgot to update it on the thread yesterday. I say check-up service because there is no oil change involved here. So here goes. Some pictures in a hurry and we are ready to make the thread current again. I will try and put some great pictures of the car later on.

Net net - we are very satisfied with the car and the experience overall. Nothing much to report except that it is clocking kilometers as usual. I would wholeheartedly recommend this car and Tata as a brand to anyone. My perspective about Tata Motors as a company and the car Altroz changed a lot after owning this car for 2.5 years. Maybe some of them have had a really bad experience, but mine seems to be one of those threads where the experience is great.

Blanks look duh in that area. Should have been covered with a lot of functional buttons.


Just check out the swirls on the camera. No wonder, the video quality has reduced.


Centre console is easy to read and intuitive. Plus physical buttons make it easier. None of that "phygital" things.


Centre display is crisp and sharp. Plus that Harman system is awesome for non audiophiles like us.


A random exterior shot in wide angle


The rear handle tends to capture mud/water after a wash.


Just the idol. The flag fell off one day.


We don't have the new ceramic logos. The old logo gathers calcium deposits after a wash


Odometer is nearing 13k kilometers. Very satisfying journey so far


As I mentioned many times, the piano black areas are big time scratch magnets. Just see the no. of swirls!


Big rear head rests block your view in traffic


Paint quality is top notch!


Here's the photo of this "Checkup" service bill.



Flat bottom steering wheel is a delight to hold


Switches are a standard fare akin to what Maruti has in every car!

[SavoyWalrus]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Blanks look duh in that area. Should have been covered with a lot of functional buttons.

Good to hear that you haven't faced any issues Does the DCA not come with start-stop? The iTurbo I have has three switches on the right - front fog lamp, rear fog lamp, and the start-stop button.

[W.A.G.7]

Originally Posted by SavoyWalrus

Good to hear that you haven't faced any issues Does the DCA not come with start-stop?

Nope. Ours didn't come with this feature. I did notice at the time of purchase that there were feature differences in XZ and XZ+ models of automatic and manual cars. As an example, some of the XZ models (I think especially those with manual transmission) didn't have the digital speedometer, instead they had the manual one from the XE, XM and XT models. So it's possible that many of the XZ and XZ+ cars out there in wild have a different feature set in every model (?)

[W.A.G.7]

A few observations about the gearbox and the engine from an ordinary person's perspective...

One of the greatest USP's of this car is the gearbox. It's fast, smooth and contrary to the popular belief that dual clutch gearboxes are problematic, this one proves to be otherwise. In a sense, this "unpopular" opinion was formulated after the owner experiences of the first gen Skoda Fabia 1.4P, Skoda Laura TSi, Skoda Superb Petrol (?) and possibly some more cars from the Volkswagen stable. What we musn't forget though is that some of these cars were inherent lemons from the factory. However, after 10 years of reading about problematic dual clutch boxes, and the improvements/learning; I am of the opinion that none of the latest dual clutch gearboxes are inherently bad. It's the driving style and the conditions in which they are used, that affects them. Secondly, both of us have learnt that the service center guys are trained to brainwash you for the "Sealed for life" gag! But as we all know, this is not the case and the gearbox oil/fluid will degenerate sooner or later and will need a replacement. I don't know what technology Tata (or Punch Powertrain(?)) has used in this gearbox, but I can affirm after two years of ownership that this gearbox is quick to shift gears very smoothly. Up shifting is barely perceptible, but you can make out the downshifts. Now downshifts are audible, not really due to the gearbox but due to the wheezy 1.2P engine. Seriously this car needs the 1.2 Turbo engine to be paired with fast DCA box. The gearbox is a primary reason why we were sold on the car 2.5 years ago and why we are still sold on it.

In our car, the gearbox shifts up and down quite smoothly in the city, but at times gets confused whether to stay in 2nd and upshift to 3rd or vice-versa. Having said that about the behaviour of the gearbox in city traffic conditions; we have observed that the car and the gearbox actually do better out there on the highway or open roads where your speeds will exceed 40kmph. Paradoxically, this gearbox is/was always intended for the city-scape where the car will experience bumper to bumper traffic or will be driven in one. It had the bad luck of being paired to an under powered engine. The puny 1.2P engine was never meant to lug the heavy car on the highway anyway. Yet, on the highway, the engine and gearbox feels much more relaxed. It takes it's own sweet time to get upto 100kmph but the gearbox is far more comfortable out on the highway simply due to the nature of the 1.2P NA engine. Which gets us back to the main point - the single fly in the entire package is the wheezy engine.

The gearbox is the most uncomfortable in the ghat section. You see the open road while climbing and the gearbox keeps holding on to 3rd. In a manual car, you would downshift to 2nd and any car with an iota of self-respect (puny engines be damned) would lurch ahead in a spirited manner. But in this car, you press the accelerator and nothing happens! Half a second later the gearbox drops down a gear or two lightning fast and then again nothing happens! Another ! Once again, half a second later the engine realizes that it needs to work it out and then you hear a loud groan from the 1.2P motor as it protests the task forced unto it. And that's where you realize the drawback of not having the Turbo petrol. Some members suggested slotting it into manual and using it in the ghats. Technically yes, but that isn't why we got an automatic for! For some reason our hand-leg-eye coordination is as dead as a dodo in an automatic. Strangely it works very normally in a manual geared car. But both of us simply cannot drive this car in the manual mode.

To conclude highway is the best, city is better, but the ghat sections are bad in this car. Something to look out for if you plan to purchase this one.

[Burgman_tales]

Originally Posted by SavoyWalrus

Good to hear that you haven't faced any issues Does the DCA not come with start-stop? The iTurbo I have has three switches on the right - front fog lamp, rear fog lamp, and the start-stop button.

DCA doesn't come with start stop, none of the variants. Front fog lamp is there only on the top variant XZA+.

[coldice4u]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Here's the photo of this "Checkup" service bill.
Attachment 2706985
Attachment 2706967

That looks awfully expensive for a 6 month check up with no apparent part replacements. Does Tata even charge for scanning for errors and that too in excess of 1k?

[sumeet.089]

Is the scanning part specific to DCA, because I have never see this entry for my Punch AMT.

Yes, the bill is highly inflated.
For me, I try to restrict them at 3K for minor services.

[Earthmoverguy]

Isn't the minor service bill too high? My Altroz XZ+Diesel's major services came upto ~7.5k/service. Minor services were restricted to 2-2.5k maximum with removal of unwanted services. I exclude any tyre/alignment jobs and also windshield washer fluid. Never charged for ECU scanning which might be additional.

Pro tip is to buy MGP Ecstar washer fluid for Rs.17/50ml pouches available on packs of 10 from any MGP stores.

[carhead]

Tata has done really well with the DCA. Seems the Volkswagen DCT gremlins have not come to roost here. Good to see hardly any complaints regarding this new transmission (for Tata).

Can anyone share how what is the share of DCA in monthly sales of Altroz and Nexon?